eFeedLink recently met up with the new marketing director for Kemin APAC, Dr. Chandru, and new marketing manager, Francesca Liam, who are part of a regional team that aims to strengthen customer engagement at the local and farm levels.

Dr. Chandru is a familiar face at Kemin, having been with the company for 17 years, and was most recently general manager of Kemin APAC's Feed Technology business unit with the concurrent appointment of country manager for Myanmar. His career at Kemin had for 13 years, been predominantly in marketing roles like product management. "In Kemin, product management team works very closely with other functions such as R&D, operations and sales. I like the product management role, as it provided me learning opportunities which include knowledge about products, markets, strategies, and essentially the entire product development process. All these experiences provide a very strong background for my role as the marketing director," highlights Dr. Chandru.

For Liam, although she is new to the feed and livestock industry, she comes with strong experience in international branding, and one can sense the enthusiasm she has in contributing to the reinforcement of the Kemin brand at the local level. "For the Asian market, the Kemin brand needs to take into account the local context with consistency, which I would like to highlight for our current situation. As examples in the digital space, we are working on websites to have content presented in local languages, and also engage local videographers to produce educational materials that would better relate to the local situation. While we maintain participation in significant tradeshows, we also have plans to create stronger customer intimacy by hosting bespoke seminars in suburban territories," shares Liam.

Kemin is one of the few animal nutrition and health companies with a very strong regional presence, according to Dr. Chandru. Kemin is unique in the aspect that it has nine research facilities worldwide, operates in more than 90 countries and has customers in more than 120 countries. Dr. Chandru explains: "Being committed to the regional level, we strongly feel that every market is different, where feed and animal production conditions, farming, raw materials and livestock breeds vary across regions. By having in-depth insights at the regional and country-level, we can provide customised solutions to suit the local customers' needs."

Kemin is perceived to be one of the market leaders in animal nutrition, according to Dr. Chandru. "For example, most people in the industry know what LYSOFORTETM is, and that LYSOFORTE represents Kemin. Earlier this year at the KemINSIGHT conference, Kemin introduced LYSOFORTE EXTEND, the next step in the product's lifecycle," he illustrates. LYSOFORTE EXTEND is a patented product for poultry and swine, which uses a combination of lysophospholipids, monoglycerides, and surfactant to expand the benefits of lysophospholipids for complete fat and nutrient digestion and absorption.

Dr. Chandru emphasizes that Kemin is also recognized by the products and services under its animal health platform. He cites the burning issues resulting from the increasing ban of antibiotics in many countries, where Southeast Asian markets could be said to be at their crossroads and that "many key players have their focus on finding alternatives to antibiotics".

"We at Kemin understand that there is no magic bullet to these issues, and strategic use of different programmes is required to replace antibiotics. This involves having an in-depth understanding of animal health, management, and feed practices so that the right solutions are recommended to the customers. Kemin has a comprehensive portfolio of intestinal health offerings which comprises of Acid LAC™ range of acidifiers, CLOSTAT™ brand probiotic, Orsential™ brand essential oils, Aleta™ brand immunomodulator, and COZANTE™ brand natural coccidiostat", explains Dr. Chandru.

He adds that Kemin is expanding its presence to the farm level with its range of intestinal health solutions. "We've recently hired several subject matter experts in Vietnam and Indonesia, who will provide technical support to customers at the farm level."